1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus and method for generating a character collage message, and more particularly to an apparatus and method for generating a character collage message by using images, each of which includes a character.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, messaging services used in portable terminals include a Short Message Service (SMS), a Long Message Service (LMS), and a Multimedia Message Service (MMS). The SMS and LMS are most frequently used by the users of portable terminals, but can be considered monotonous because the resulting messages are characteristically expressed only by text. To make up for the defects of these text-based message services, the MMS has been proposed and used. The MMS can transmit not only texts, but also images, web pages, and moving pictures as attached files. Thus, a user of a portable terminal can compose a personalized message and transmit the message to the user of a counterpart portable terminal.
Collage is a technique of pasting pieces, cut from papers, prints, photos, etc., on a picture to create a specific shape and/or message. A character collage message refers to a message that is composed of a combination of images, including respective characters, by using the collage technique, instead of a message composed by typical text characters. Conventionally, in order to compose a character collage message, a user creates an image file using a separate image editing program. Specifically, a user must perform complex steps of copying image pieces corresponding to respective syllables from a plurality of original images, pasting the copied image pieces on one image to create one collage image file, and then importing the created collage image file into an MMS program to transmit it to the user of a counterpart portable terminal. Moreover, in a common portable terminal that has no image editing program, in contrast to a smartphone, it is difficult to even create a collage image file. Accordingly, it is arduous to have to create a collage image file in an external computer, download the created collage image file to the portable terminal, and then transmit the downloaded collage image file.